While the longest-serving justice was William O. Douglas’ 36 years, 209 days span – lasting through the 40s, 50s, and 60s - the average term of service is 16 years, 359 days. As the standard of health care continues to improve, a justice can potentially look forward to a longer tenure.
Since Justices are able to stay as long as they choose on the Supreme Court bench, there are no term limits. Of the 114 justices who have sat on the bench since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, 49 died in office; the last to do so was Antonin Scalia in 2016.
Among the current members of the Court, Clarence Thomas 's tenure of 11,061 days ( 30 years, 103 days) is the longest, while Amy Coney Barrett 's 1 year, 99 days is the shortest. The table below ranks all United States Supreme Court Justices by time in office.
John Rutledge served the shortest tenure as an Associate Justice at one year and 18 days, from 1790 to 1791.
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas is the longest-serving of the justices, having sat on the Supreme Court for more than thirty years . Thomas is known as something of a conservative maverick – and his tenure has been partly defined by a readiness to stand alone.
The number of Justices on the Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869.
27 yearsAfter 27 years serving as a justice on the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020 due to complications from metastatic pancreas cancer.
Supreme CourtYearChief JusticeAssociate Justices2017$263,300$251,8002018$267,000$255,3002019$270,700$258,9002020$277,700$265,60048 more rows
Therefore, the Supreme Court Justices hold office from the day of appointment until the day they choose to and can only be removed from the office by impeachment.
Since the formation of the court, only 17 people have been privileged to serve as the Chief Justice while 101 people have served as associate justices .
The seniority of the associate justices is by order of appointment, with the Chief Justice as the most senior. In case two of the justices are appointed at the same time, the older one is considered the senior of the two. The views of the justices are stated in the order of seniority.
The constitution specifies that the Supreme Court justices shall serve during “good behavior,” meaning that they shall serve for a lifetime. The provision ensures the independence of the judiciary and protects the justices from being partisans . The constitution also protects the salaries of the justices from being diminished while in office.
The nine justices have one vote each just as the Chief Justice. However, the Chief Justice has additional powers and administrative responsibilities that cannot be undertaken by the other justice. Thus, the Chief Justice is paid slightly higher than the associate justices.
The judicial power of the Supreme Court extends to all the cases in law, cases arising under the country’s constitution, and all cases affecting state officials like ministers and ambassadors.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States of America. The constitution of the United States stipulates that the country’s judicial powers can only be exercised by the Supreme Court and other lower courts as deemed necessary by the Congress.
Gorsuch also holds the distinction of being the first justice to serve alongside a justice for whom he has clerked – Justice Anthony Kennedy. He is currently the youngest justice on the bench. Gorsuch has been a more conservative voice on the bench, falling in the middle of the right-leaning pack.
Bush, has served just 134 days longer than that of the other Bush appointee, Justice Alito. Confirmed on Sept. 29, 2005, Roberts has served for 14 years, 356 days, with his confirmation taking 62 days to complete.
Appointed in 2018, his confirmation hearing lasted for 88 days before he was appointed on October 6, 2018. He is the second appointee by President Trump.
Sotomayor is the first - and so far only – Hispanic appointment to the Supreme Court. Her ascent was aided by both sides of the aisle, with President George H.W. Bush first appointing her to the Southern District of New York before President Bill Clinton elevated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Having remained on her seat for just over 27 years, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the 24th longest-serving Supreme Court justice of the 114 to hold the office. While the longest-serving justice was William O. Douglas’ 36 years, 209 days span – lasting through the 40s, 50s, and 60s - the average term of service is 16 years, 359 days.
With the announced retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a new justice will soon be appointed to the high court.
Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, Ginsburg served for 27 years until her death in September of 2020. President Donald Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to replace her stirred controversy as Ginsburg's dying wish was to have her seat filled after the 2020 election.
Anthony Kennedy was nominated by President Ronald Regan to replace Lewis F. Powell Jr. After serving for over 30 years, he retired and was replaced with one of his former law clerks, Brett Kavanaugh.
The Supreme Court's first Italian-American justice, Scalia served for over 29 years before he died of natural causes. Trump replaced him with Neil Gorsuch.
After being nominated by Richard Nixon, William Rehnquist served for almost 19 years before dying at the age of 80. President Reagan replaced him with Scalia.
The longest serving Justice was William O. Douglas who served for 36 years, 7 months, and 8 days from 1939 to 1975. Which Associate Justice served the shortest Term? John Rutledge served the shortest tenure as an Associate Justice at one year and 18 days, from 1790 to 1791.
Who was the longest serving Chief Justice? The longest serving Chief Justice was Chief Justice John Marshall who served for 34 years, 5 months and 11 days from 180 1 to 1835.
The shortest serving Chief Justice was John Rutledge who was appointed under a temporary commission because the Senate was in recess. He served for 5 months and 14 days before the Senate reconvened and rejected his nomination.
Who was the oldest person to serve on the Supreme Court? The oldest person to serve as a Supreme Court Justice was Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., (1902-1932) who was 90 when he retired from the Court.
There were 61 appointments in the 100 years from 1861 through 1961, the end of Dwight Eisenhower’s administration. An anticipated decline in Supreme Court appointments should be seen as a concern by both political parties.
In the history of the republic, only five presidents — aside from George Washington, who assembled the court from scratch — have been able to appoint more than five justices. The last president to do that was Eisenhower.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, whom Trump appointed at the relatively tender age of 49, could conceivably remain on the court through nine more presidential terms, given that he can expect to live another 36 years, our actuarial analysis shows. And it’s not just Justice Gorsuch. The average tenure of justices is likely to increase to 35 years on ...
Ed. note: This post discusses the subject of life expectancy and Supreme Court justices. Some readers might find this subject distasteful; if you are such a reader, please stop reading here.[1]
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